“Posters have to be removed within 21 days after the election. In the past we have had incidents were posters were not removed. In these instances, the municipality will remove the posters and send the bill to the political party concerned,” said Matsie.

While posters in Kimberley have to be down by May 29, political parties in Cape Town are only given a week in which to remove their posters. In the Mother City, parties are charged R117 for a tied poster and R170 to remove posters that have been pasted on.

According to the Sol Plaatje’s tariffs, the current deposit for political posters is R5 844. “If the posters are removed within a week the deposit is 100% refundable, if it is not removed within a week council will be liable to clean the city and the deposit is then non-refundable,” the policy states.